Somalis double ransom demand...13 tips for climbing your mast...Sailors Radio Show on new station and slot...yacht jams Mayday frequency...and much more...

While the German Government fiddles with its constitutional questions and political wrangling, its world reputation is probably burning as three of its citizen cruising sailors, including a child and a diabetic who needs insulin, remain hostage in a camp in Somaliland.

Reports are conflicting from the lawless area, but a local elder who has been negotiating with the pirates, who apparently abandoned the captured yacht Rockall on the shore, says they are now claiming $2 Million dollars in ransom.

Germany is paralysed, so there seems no imminent action for the rescue of the Rockall's crew, which also includes one French national, or the 15 crew of a German flagged ship which was captured several weeks ago.

If you're anywhere near Melbourne, get along to the Melbourne Boat Show, started already, and if you're up Sydney way and you'd like to look at some nifty 'pre-loved' sailing boats, Bavaria is having an Open Day on 12th July in Pittwater.

Read how that great weekly radio broadcast, the 'Sailors Radio Show', is coming to a station near you - now you'll be able to listen easier, and on a Sunday morning, just before you go sailing!

Over in a remote Aur atoll in the already remote Marshall Islands, some other cruising sailors were very lucky this week, when, after wrecking their boat on the atoll entrance, they were saved by a passing Russian/Israeli media magnate in his superyacht.

Another lucky sailor is the solo yachtie off Perth with no steering, no engine and rigging problems who had to be located not once but twice before being towed to Fremantle. He was also saved in similar circumstances a couple of years ago - he'd have to be running out of luck some time soon.

Then there's the couple of irresponsible sailors who managed to jam Channel 16 in the English Channel for so long the coastguard had to send a helicopter to tell them to shut up - they'll be lucky not to cop a penalty, if the English can find a suitable charge.

Talking of luck, or rather making your own, this week we bring you thirteen top tips for climbing your mast.

...and lots more news, some strange, all true, from near and far,

So read on, enjoy, and...

Sail safe!

Nancy Knudsen, Cruising Editor

Somali Pirates Double Ransom Demand for Cruisers Nancy Knudsen, Somali pirates who seized four cruising sailors on June 23 – a German couple, their son and a French Skipper – have now upped their demands to US$2 million. The four sailors, who had been sailing from Egypt to Thailand, are being held in a camp in the breakaway state of Somaliland. Unconfirmed reports from Africa identify the German yacht as the Rockall, the sailors as M. Sabine and K. Juergen.... [more]

Yacht Jams Mayday Frequency Western Morning News, The importance of Skippers being conscious of the uses of the emergency channel 16 was underlined this week when two careless yachties put hundreds of ships sailing down the busiest shipping lane in the world at risk by wrongly broadcasting on the international distress frequency for an hour.... [more]

Solo Sailor Adrift Found Twice before being towed BW Media, A solo sailor whose yacht Moonstar suffered severe damage in a storm off the coast of Perth let off a distress beacon, but refused to abandon his yacht which was drifting helplessly . During subsequent bad weather rescuers lost contact with the sailor, whose identity has not been established. Moonstar has now been located and is being towed to shore... [more]

Kava Caper Lindsay Wright, One of the most illuminating aspects of offshore cruising in a yacht is the many opportunities sailors get to be at one with the locals; eat their food, dance their dances or imbibe their inebriant of choice (not always necessarily in that order). Not to excess, you understand – just enough to foster that warm feeling of mutual admiration that comes from shared experience.... [more]

Sailors Radio Show mutinies. Crew jumps ship! Max Trim, For the past six years, Australia's only sailing show to grace the airwaves has been broadcast around Australia from the Sydney station 107.3FM.... [more]

Climbing the Mast? - 13 Tips to Keep you Lucky Des Ryan, Checking your own mast before setting out on a sea voyage is like checking your own parachute before you jump. You can omit it or leave it to someone else, but it's too late to blame anyone when you've taken the fast way to the ground, or your mast is busily digging a hole in your hull.... [more]

School holiday fun at the National Maritime Museum Shirani Aththas, From learning to become 18th century sailhands to making a rubber-band propelled toy boat inspired by 19th century toys, there's plenty happening at the National Maritime Museum these holidays to keep children of any age entertained... [more]

48th annual Melbourne Boat Show starts on Thursday Powerboat-World.com, The 48 th annual BIA Melbourne Boat Show runs from Thursday July 3 to Monday 7th July at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and features hundreds of beautiful boats plus all the latest in boating and fishing gear.... [more]

Pittwater 'Pre-loved' Open Day- Saturday 12th July Tom Edgington, Bavaria Yachts Australia is delighted to announce an open day showcasing a full display of 'Pre-loved' yachts at Quays Marina, Church Point, Pittwater (NSW).... [more]

Celebrations when Sea Stallion leaves Dublin Lars Normann, The world's biggest Viking ship reconstruction turns for home. The 2nd half of the experimental voyage ends in Roskilde on 9th August. The last few members of the crew arrive to sail the big longship reconstruction, the Sea Stallion, out into the Irish Sea. The ship has spent a few days moored in the 'finer' part of Dublin's harbour.... [more]

Marten Yachts Contracts its Second 67 Marten Yachts media, The Marten 67 looks set to magnetise the market following the contracting of two new builds within a six month period, both destined for European waters.... [more]

Worldwide Rights to Seabrake For Sale - No Reserve Stephen Bennett, Seabrake, which has been described as being 'One of the Greatest Safety Devices ever invented' and which has received numerous sea safety and design awards is up for sale!! This presents as an outstanding business opportunity in the global multi billion dollar marine industry.... [more]

Calling all Young Yacht Designers Sail-World Cruising, Are you a young yacht designer, a naval architect, or an amateur with a brilliant idea? Sly Yachts is running a world-wide open contest, a competition aimed at singling out the best ideas and most innovative designers in the boating sector... [more]

Inquest into the Mystery of the Kaz II BW Media, THE inquest into the mysterious disappearance and suspected deaths last year of three men from the catamaran Kaz II while it continued to drift has been announced to begin in August. James and Peter Tunstead together with skipper Derek Batten were misssing from the Kaz II when it was spotted by a Coastwatch aircraft, drifting about 80 nautical miles northe east of Townsville in April last year.... [more]

Cynthia Woods:Bad Repair, Bad Design, or Bad Luck? Sail-World Cruising, The current investigation into the capsizing of the Texas A&M University's Cynthia Wood which resulted in the loss of the life of one sailor and the endangering of five others who waited, treading water, for 26 hours, is focussing on the examination of two previous groundings of the boat.... [more]

The Royals who Sail Des Ryan, There are literally hundreds of sailing clubs in the world that have the title 'Royal' in their name – have you ever wondered why? After all, you don't hear of too many 'Royal' Football Clubs..... and why are so many members of Royal Families interested in sailing?... [more]

Going Green - Solar replaces Skates Des Ryan, They don't have sails, but they are just as Green. They don't have petrol or diesel motors, but some of them could challenge your average motor boat and win. They're solar powered, but they're not in the tropics with a lot of sun. For the second year, forty solar-powered boats are now racing each other through the canals, rivers, and lakes of the Netherlands.... [more]

Marine Marketing – deciding your online Budget? TetraMedia, Online marketing is now an essential part of marine advertising. The heaviest Internet adult users are now the 18-35 and 50-65 age groups – two very important age groups. Now the online marine audience is much larger than traditional print media and it's much cheaper to reach audiences online. The Marine industry around the world is finding more and more consumers have done their on-line hom... [more]

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